Banksy

The largest presentation of works by Banksy, the world’s most enigmatic yet highly sought-after artist, including iconic works, installation objects, ephemera, and memorabilia all in one volume.

Banksy is the world’s most discussed artist of recent decades, and this seminal collection features hundreds of works including Girl with Balloon, Pulp Fiction, Love Is in the Air, Barcode, and Monkey Queen. It also includes scores of paintings, serigraphs, stencils, and installation objects as well as a selection of memorabilia—many of which have never been published previously. Created with the cooperation of Pest Control, the group that manages all things Banksy, this is as official and authorized as any Banksy publication could be.
 
Banksy is the world’s greatest practitioner of street art. His work has always been political, involving pointed critiques of inequality, injustice, consumerism, and the establishment, yet no one knows his identity. He is an exemplary case of fame and notoriety built upon absence and anonymity. His relationship with the art market is also complex: marked by mocking hostility while being one of the most marketable and most collected contemporary artists.

This monograph gathers and presents the largest assemblage in one volume about the life, work, and ideas of Banksy - the world's most discussed artist of recent decades. Featuring hundreds of works - Girl with Balloon, Mickey Snake, Dismaland, Love is in the Air, Barcode, Monkey Queen -- the book includes reproductions of paintings, serigraphs, and stencils. The most iconic works are here, but so too are numerous installation objects and a selection of memorabilia all with the official approval of Pest Control, the group that manages all things Banksy. Banksy is considered the world's greatest practitioner of street art at work today. His work has always implied political critiques - of inequality, injustice, discrimination, consumerism, pollution, and the establishment. But, Banksy is a ghost -- no one knows his identity. He is an exemplary case of fame and notoriety built upon absence, anonymity, and the denial of one's explicit contribution to the public debate if not in terms of creative activism. Banksy's relationship with the art market is also complex: at the same time mocking, distant, and hostile and yet all he does is based upon a marketing logic that has proven to be among the most effective ever attempted. In short, an apparent (or real) contradiction between adhesion to the market and ferocious criticism of the market itself. This volume is published to coincide with a major traveling exhibition of over one hundred Banksy works, but it is sure to be a must have for art lovers and Banksy fans alike for years to come.